Doot doo doo doo, Doot doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, Doot doo doo doo. Doot doo doo...

"Here Come the Hawks, the mighty Blackhawks..
Take the attack, yeah, and we'll back you Blackhawks.
You're flyin' high now, so let's wrap it up.
Let's go you Hawks, move off.
Now all look out...
Here Come the Hawks"

Wow, that sure feels good!

As a former season-"reservation" holder of the team formerly known as "Tony Amonte, and uh, Vladmir Whatshisnameov and uh that guy," I could not be more excited about the success of the Blackhawks. After all, not everyone can say that they experienced the Ryan VandenBussche/ Cam Russell years and actually lived to tell about it. Yes, that was thewife and I way up in section 333 cheering every goal long before anyone knew who in the hell The Fratellis were (and let me tell you, the new song they play when the Hawks score sure beats the songs they used to use back in the late 90's when every Kyle Calder goal was celebrated with a spin of Phil Collins' "Against All Odds" or Barry Manilow's "It's a Miracle"). Hell, we had season tickets back when the only reason to go to the game was to eat CherryHeads and hope that Jocelyn Thibault's wife was wearing her leather pants. Back when the marketing slogan at the beginning of the season was "Tradition, Pride, Honor, Colors" (no, I am not making this up), but by the end of the season was "Hey, At Least The Chick Who Shot the Puck Between Periods Was Hot."

It is absolutely amazing what a difference the death of one old, drunk windbag can have on the fortunes of a franchise. After all, keep in mind that three or four short years ago, the Blackhawks were the NHL's answer to the Los Angeles Clippers, the Detroit Lions and the winless Rydell High School Rangers. In fact, I think Darius Miles, Eric Hipple and Kenickie may have even had a short stint on the team's third line late in 2003.

But don't look now...there are actual fans in the Realistically Could Go Out of Business At Any Time Airline Center. Whereas in the last ten years, the only persons who actually went to a Hawks game were Theo Fleury's sponsor, Bob Probert's parole office, Eric Daze's OB-GYN and the Ligue family (look...attack a third base coach and you have to be punished, right? Just look at the guy... Can't you see him yelling "What do you mean I have to watch Boris Mironov and Igor Korolev?!?"), now it is all the rage to be seen at the UC, I mean the RCGOOBAATAC. In fact, walk downtown these days and you are just as likely to be greeted with a "Let's Go Hawks" as you are with a "Please tell me again why the Cubs felt the need to trade Mark DeRosa for a Chief Wahoo Bobble Head, Jake Taylor's leftover knee cartilage and Jobu."

And, not only are there real fans in the building, but you can actually watch the home games on TV!!! Get a bag of Puffy Cheetos and a High Life and get ready for the soothing voice of Pat Foley. That's right... it is finally safe to turn back on the TV. No longer are you stuck choosing between "Dancing With the Stars," "So You Think You Can Dance," "The Dancing Apprentice," "Dance Survivor: Ivory Coast," and "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo." Time to dedicate yourself to creating a good ol' fashioned ass groove in the sofa. There is finally something worth watching.

By the way, with today's television lineup, does anyone else wonder if John Lithgow's character in Footloose has lost his mind and is now rooming with Dr. Gregory House at the Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital? Heck, 90% of the shows on TV have something to do with dancing! And to think that the best of the bunch, Fuse TV's "Pants Off, Dance Off," is no longer on the air!!!

(I have told you before, people, I do not make this stuff up!)

The bottom line is that this is a team that five years ago was about as popular as Sarah Palin at a Planned Parenthood rally and the turnaround has been amazing. Teams just don't go from page 74C (right next to the story about how Mr. T still refuses to trim his bushes) to the front page. The Hawks are relevant again and I, for one, could not be more excited.

* Now, if we could just do something about DePaul.

* So the Hawks now march on to the Western Conference Finals. The only question that remains is who they are going to be matched up against with the Red Wings and the Ducks set to face off in Game 7 this evening. With the outcome of the series still in doubt, it seems as though everyone is being asked who they would rather see the Blackhawks play and the most popular answer is... Detroit. Excuse me? Do we need to move another bed into House and the Reverend Shaw Moore's padded room?

Let me ask baseball fans a question... if the (insert name of favorite team here), were playing the Mets in a game seven, would you rather see Johan Santana on the mound or learn that Steve Trachsel's boss at Wal-Mart has given the big oaf the day off, allowing him to toe the rubber? And if you team was up one run with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth, would you rather see Albert Pujols stroll to the plate or discover that Thing Two (that's Neifi Perez for those of you new to the RT) has come out of retirement and joined the Red Birds? Duh...

Let me switch sports on you to further prove my point. Every March, I shake my head when fans of small NCAA conference champions hold up signs that say "We Want Duke," or "We Want UCLA." Ummm...no you don't. I mean, you really don't. Let's be honest here. You're Radford. What you want is Quinnipiac.

So, can someone please explain to me why Hawks' fans would honestly rather play the Red Wings? There is a reason they are the defending Stanley Cup champions and the #2 seed and a reason Anaheim squeaked into the playoffs as the #8 seed. Play Anaheim and the Hawks have home ice. Play Anaheim and you do not have to face Datsuyk and Zetterberg and Lidstrom and Hossa. Play Anaheim and you do not have to play the most potent offense in hockey. Play Anaheim and you are playing Anaheim. I believe Daffy Duck hit the nail on the head when he asked "What type of a Mickey Mouse organization names their team the Ducks?"

So, unless a series with Detroit comes with an autographed picture of Axel Foley, I say quack, quack.

* Okay, so let me try and answer the question that I am sure many of you are asking...is the Random Thoughts back? And the answer is, well, sort of. What I would like to do is reinvent the RT so it consists mainly of short "snippets." Longtime fans "thewife" and "OrangeWhip" have encouraged me to get back to writing, but both agree that the posts had gotten entirely too long. That said, I would like to keep the entries fairly short (if fact, I see today's post as way looooong compared to what I would like it to be). Oh sure, there will be days when I get a little long winded, but, more often than not, the posts will consist of a number of small paragraphs (which should give you plenty of time to figure out the correct spelling of Byfuglien). The bottom line is that I have always enjoyed writing the RT and have been lead to believe that you all enjoy reading it, so let's give it a go. All that I ask is that you all participate and comment. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to think that you do not care and will likely make like Barry Sanders and Sandy Koufax and call it a career.

* Finally, as long time readers know, there has never been a bigger fan of the RT than WrigleyBill, who lived with Cystic Fibrosis and passed away 2 1/2 years ago. Well, this weekend, thedaughter, theson and I will be joining Bill's wife Lori on the annual CF "Great Strides" walk. Anyone interested in learning more about the disease that took the life of a great friend much too early, should visit www.cff.org. You can even click on the link for "Great Strides," search for my name and join the fight...

* Bill is also likely responsible for the single best one-liner in the history of the RT, when, shortly after Katrina visited the Crescent City, he commented "That would be as foolish as asking the Scorpions to play the 'Welcome Back to New Orleans' concert and the Superdome and having them open with 'Rock You Like a Hurricane." Brilliant.